New hotspot opens up in North Africa despite UN bid to defuse tensions
(GIN)—War is breaking out all over. Fighting shows no signs of ending in Ethiopia as the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, attempts to put down a rebellion by the sovereign-seeking state of Tigray. Eritrea now appears to have been drawn into the fighting. A massacre was reported by Amnesty International. In the Amhara region, political...
An African Giant Passes Remembering Ghana’s President Jerry John Rawlings
Another African tree has fallen with the death of former President Jerry John Rawlings, 73, who led Ghana’s successful transition to a stable democracy from military rule. “It is with great sadness that I announce to the nation that the first president of the Fourth Republic, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings, has joined his...
EndSARS movement born out of young Nigerians’ outrage against police brutality
“For people who are not familiar with the histories of (global) policing and even just youth struggles, political struggles in Nigeria, the #EndSARS uprising may have come by surprise. The narrative in the U.S. about policing and police brutality (at the root of which is) White supremacy and racism … to be the same really in the...
Poverty, corruption, conflict are factors in Nigeria’s SARS protest movement
What may be worse than law enforcement officers in U.S. cities receiving police training in Israel? Nigeria’s recently disbanded notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad or SARS receiving police training from the United Kingdom College of Policing. According to the African program director for the International Crisis Group, Dr. Comfort Ero, “We should acknowledge that SARS was part of...
Libyan sides agree plan on implementing ceasefire deal
Military officers from Libya’s warring parties have agreed practical steps towards implementing a ceasefire agreement, following the signing of an historic accord in Geneva in October, the UN mission in the country, UNSMIL, has reported. The two-day meeting of the Joint Military Commission (JMC)—which comprises five members each from the Government of National Accord (GNA)...
10,000 women and the spark for Nigeria’s independence
In the recently released documentary “Journey of an African Colony,” executive producer and narrator Olasupo Shasore captivates his audience by physically visiting many of the locations discussed in this seven-part series on the colonial history of Nigeria. Facts in this documentary and the release Sept. 30, coincided with the 60th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence...
Kenyan author accepts writing prize in his Gikuyu language
(GIN)—Ngaahika Ndeenda, a theatrical piece about a wealthy farmer, a peasant and his marriageable young daughter, was a commercial success when it appeared in 1977 in Kenya. But because it appeared in Gikuyu, the author’s mother tongue, it angered the government which slapped the authors—Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Ngũgĩ wa Mirii— in jail. Set...
Sanctions do more harm than good
AFRICA WATCH The sanctions concept has been around a long time. According to Foreign Policy global news publication, sanctions have a long history of use by nation states blockading their enemies, or by those that have come under the sway of Western imperialist powers. A case can be made, that for Africans and Africans...
Sudan being pressured to normalize ties with Israel
The hot debate around the possibility of a Sudan-Israel “bilateral relationship,” mentioned in an article originally published by United States Institute of Peace and posted on brookings.edu mentions “the fragility of Sudan’s political transition and the risks that premature normalization could pose for the strategic interests of the United States, Israel, and the UAE.” The issue isn’t...
African Union seeks permanent seats on Security Council
African leaders over the years have repeatedly called for enlargement of the 15-member United Nations Security Council, the only UN body whose decisions are mandatory. Security Council resolutions have the power of international law and the council includes nations who hold permanent seats with the power to veto resolutions.
